No fabricated, purchased, or incentivized reviews presented as genuine feedback

The FTC's Fake Reviews Rule (2024) and Endorsement Guides both prohibit fabricated, purchased, or undisclosed-incentive reviews. A testimonial section with no verifiable attribution, an admin panel that creates testimonial records without user submissions, or a review invitation offering a gift card without disclosing that incentive on the review platform each constitute distinct FTC violations. Beyond enforcement risk, the FTC Fake Reviews Rule allows the agency to seek civil penalties — up to $50,120 per violation — making this category one of the highest per-instance liability items in consumer protection compliance.

Establish an auditable review collection process and verify existing testimonials have real user records behind them.

Review authenticity checklist:

1. Collection
   - Store testimonials with: user_id, submission_date, source
     (in-app prompt, email survey, external platform)
   - Never create testimonials from an admin panel without a
     corresponding user submission record

2. Attribution
   - Show: first name, last name or initial, role, company —
     enough for a reader to verify it plausibly exists

3. Incentivized reviews
   - Disclose the incentive in the review invitation
   - Use the platform's built-in incentive disclosure mechanism
     (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot all provide one)
   - Never offer incentives contingent on positive reviews

4. Audit existing records
   SELECT * FROM testimonials
   WHERE user_id IS NULL OR source IS NULL;
   -- Review every row for legitimacy before next deploy

Any review generation service found in dependencies should be removed immediately — the FTC Fake Reviews Rule prohibits services that generate reviews regardless of how they are labeled.